Pitbulls

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Dammit, here we go again.  

 

I came home late tonight to flashing police lights next door - three Sheriff's Department cars.  Never a good sign.

 

Before I got in the house a voice called to me from my gate.  The neighbors - a middle aged man and his young adult son.  I walked over to the gate and they filled me in on what was happening. 

 

Evidently, someone's pitbull had broken through my back fence and attacked some chickens, then broke through the dividing fence and attacked and killed one of their dogs - a small terrier type family pet that their kids delighted in playing with. 

 

The deputies have been keeping an eye on the pitbull, waiting for Animal Control to arrive.  They finally showed up about 0100.

 

Damn, but this really frosts my hide.  I understand that they can be good dogs; however, in these parts too many people buy the beasts just so they can say they have the "baddest dog on the block," never work with 'em, just put 'em in their back yards and throw food at 'em.  Sometimes intentionally aggravate them to "make them mean."

 

This will be the fourth time in the ten years I've lived here that some idiot's pitbull has broken into my yard - literally knocking part of a fence down.  Several chickens have been killed, along with a couple of cats; one of mine I managed to save, after it was severely mauled and had a femur snapped.  Another time some poor cat took refuge on the roof of my Mercedes, and the damned dog ripped the grill off the car, either trying to get the cat or just in frustration.

 

At one point the neighbors to both my north and south had pitbulls.  The southern neighbor flat out told me "if that dog [it was his son's] ever gets in your yard again you SHOOT that sumbidge!  He will HURT you!"  Shortly after, the dog died of allegedly natural causes.

 

The dog from our north side broke out and found his way into our yard, evidently intent on killing chickens or cats.  My son, Sassparilla Kid, was so pissed he charged out the door armed only with a rope, and literally lassoed the creature.  He drug him home and tied it to their gate with a very short lead.  When the neighbor showed up and saw the dog, he had the nerve to tell my son that he needed to leave the dog alone - it belonged to his cousin, and his cousin would not be happy to know his dog had been roped and tied.

 

The Kid just looked at the guy and said "you tell your cousin that the next time that dog gets in our yard I'm going to just shoot the bastard!"  He meant the dog, but the neighbor evidently thought he meant the cousin, too, and delivered said message to said cousin.  Cousin and dog were never seen again.

 

I have been known to wear a pistol when doing yard work or gardening, just in case... and if one comes at me I will not hesitate to dispatch it.  

 

 

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

It doesn't cease to amaze me how upset people get when you take measures against THEIR dog that has gotten into YOUR yard;  Or threaten you if you ask them to make sure their dog isn't running loose.

[Michigan Slim]

My neighbor also suffers from 'little d***' syndrome. He has had two pit bulls taken for biting. He has a Mastiff mix now and a big lab mix. The lab mix charged my son and was approaching my wife with it's hackles up. My neighbor saw my boy and I with our pistols drawn. It wears a shock collar now. 

Another neighbor behind me had a pit that broke through his fence into my yard. I was building a shed and this dog kept charging the fence. I didn't try to hide my 9mn on my hip. When he made it through the dumbass finally got off his lazy ass and ran over to get his dog. They both left at gunpoint. The new 8' fence he built after that is the best neighbor I've ever had!

Events with pit bulls are common here.

[LawMan Mark, SASS #57095L]

A few years ago, I watched a couple of pit bulls, and three other dogs run a small dog to the ground and attack him.  I wanted to shoot the lead pit bull, but he was too close to the small dog they were trying to eviscerate, so I fired a shot into the ground near them.  They broke up, and left the little dog alone.  I checked the little dog out, and he was bitten and scratched superficially, but nothing serious.  I figured out who the pit bulls and two of the other three belonged to, and let the owners know that it was against local ordinance for their dogs to be off their property without being on leash, and that since I owned two small dogs, I would shoot their dogs as soon as they stepped foot on my property.  I haven't seen them since.  

[Pat Riot]

I love Pit Bulls, but they can be mean to the point of ruthlessness, especially if made to be that way through neglect or worse, training. 
I do know that a pit bull’s head can deflect 9mm hollow points. My neighbor a Long Beach cop was headed to work one day wearing a S&W 586. This was ‘92 when nearly all cops carried 9mm’s in SoCal. I told him how cool I thought that was. He told me that in Long Beach he had drawn his gun more against gangster’s pit bulls than he did gangsters. 
He said the day before a pit bull charged him and a 124 grain 9mm HP ricocheted right off the dog’s head after he “got a lucky shot and hit right between the eyes. That damn dog didn’t even notice. He kept right on coming. Two other cops took it out with body shots from the side.”

He told me a couple of similar stories where cops have head shot pit bulls with little or no effect. 

 

I have remembered that ever since. You all should remember it too. 
 

In that same period I had some new neighbors that were scum of the earth. The son, who we will call ***hole for the rest of this story, had 3 of the biggest pit bulls I have ever seen. They lived in the side yard of their apartment complex which was between that complex and mine. I lived in a second floor apartment and didn’t dare open windows on that side because ***hole rarely cleaned up his dog’s crap. 
I worked 3rd shift at the time and was awakened often by ***hole and his buddies training those dogs to attack blacks, latinos and Asians by wearing face masks representing those peoples and kicking the dogs. 
I reported them a few times to the police to no avail. 
Anyway, one day just as I was heading to bed I get this frantic knocking at my door and I hear little kids yelling. I opened the door and my neighbor’s 2 little kids came running into the house crying. The ***hole‘s dogs wee out and those kids were terrified. 
I say them down and have them each a cookie then I went back and grabbed my M1 Carbine and 2 loaded 30 round mags. There might be head shots along with numerous other impact points. I wasn’t going to fool around. 
I went out my front door onto the landing and was taking aim on dog 1 at the foot of my stairs when ***hole and a couple of his buddies rounded the corner. Long story short there was a lot of cussing and threats by them and a serious threat of sever bodily injury or death by me upon them and their dogs. 
Huntington Beach’s finest arrived along with animal control. Someone had called the cops. 
The story ends soon after because ***hole and his family moved away. The night they left my storage cubby was broken into snd over $5000 worth of Snap-On tools were stolen. Like I said, scum. 
 

Like I said, I love pit bulls, but I will not hesitate to kill one if threatened and I won’t aim for the head and I will empty the cylinder or mag to be sure. 

[Alpo]

16 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

training those dogs to attack blacks, latinos and Asians by wearing face masks representing those peoples and kicking the dogs. 

I wonder if that would work?

 

In the movie Hondo, Duke explains to Angie that his dog could smell Indians. That you tie the dog up when he's a puppy and hire a tame Indian to come beat him every day. And the dog learns to hate the smell of Indians. Because Indian smell different than white people.

 

That made sense, because I believe the dogs depend more on smell than they do on sight.

 

So would wearing a mask of a black guy or a Oriental work as your beating the dog, because you still smell like a white guy?

 

Interesting thought.

[Chantry]

Increase the criminal penalties & fines related to these incidents and strictly enforce them against the owners of ANY breed that behaves in a such a manner described above.  I despise people who allow or train there dogs to behave like that.

 

On edit:  A lot of people forget that the various pit bull breeds are terriers and just about every terrier I've ever met has an above average to high prey drive.   That's not an excuse, but understanding why a dog does a certain thing is important.

[DocWard]

Early last month a 64 year old female bicyclist had a flat and was walking her bike back to her vehicle when she was attacked by three "pit bull mix canines." Fortunately, passersby stopped to help before the dogs could kill her, but she did have to have her lower leg amputated. Even though she is 64, she is supposed to be an avid rider and very fit.

https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/columbus/woman-attacked-by-dogs-in-vinton-county-grateful-to-rescuers/

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

And people in some places consider me paranoid becauseI don't even go to the mailbox without a loaded gun with me.

 

Most of those people are NOT native Arizonans.   A lot of guns around here, worn concealed or openly, either or both.

 

Got some strange looks when I was inPhoenix, but Phoenix isn't really Arizona anymore.

[Oak Ridge Regulator]

I have always believed if you can’t raise a good dog you can’t raise a good kid and that’s the main reason we have the problems we have today, most people are to stupid, mean and lazy to raise dogs or kids, it’s to bad because dogs are about the most loyal forgiving creature on this planet

[Rip Snorter]

The old adage, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners is generally true.  Dogs usually like dog people, and I would sure hate to shoot a dog, but large dogs can easily do great bodily harm.

[Buckshot Bear]

https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/man-fighting-for-life-after-mauling-by-multiple-dogs-at-queensland-home/news-story/3e54514dab730fc25c15d5bbf5739dfd

[Pat Riot]

6 hours ago, Alpo said:

I wonder if that would work?

 

In the movie Hondo, Duke explains to Angie that his dog could smell Indians. That you tie the dog up when he's a puppy and hire a tame Indian to come beat him every day. And the dog learns to hate the smell of Indians. Because Indian smell different than white people.

 

That made sense, because I believe the dogs depend more on smell than they do on sight.

 

So would wearing a mask of a black guy or a Oriental work as your beating the dog, because you still smell like a white guy?

 

Interesting thought.

No, they would smell the scumbag under the mask. The cops new about these lower lifeforms. They couldn’t do much because these morons claimed the were “training” the dogs. 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

I've been lucky in my neighbors for these last 43 years. No arguments, no fights, a labrador retriever barked once or twice a few years back.

[J-BAR #18287]

I’m envious.

[Sedalia Dave]

12 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I love Pit Bulls, but they can be mean to the point of ruthlessness, especially if made to be that way through neglect or worse, training. 
I do know that a pit bull’s head can deflect 9mm hollow points. My neighbor a Long Beach cop was headed to work one day wearing a S&W 586. This was ‘92 when nearly all cops carried 9mm’s in SoCal. I told him how cool I thought that was. He told me that in Long Beach he had drawn his gun more against gangster’s pit bulls than he did gangsters. 
He said the day before a pit bull charged him and a 124 grain 9mm HP ricocheted right off the dog’s head after he “got a lucky shot and hit right between the eyes. That damn dog didn’t even notice. He kept right on coming. Two other cops took it out with body shots from the side.”

He told me a couple of similar stories where cops have head shot pit bulls with little or no effect. 

 

I have remembered that ever since. You all should remember it too. 
 

In that same period I had some new neighbors that were scum of the earth. The son, who we will call ***hole for the rest of this story, had 3 of the biggest pit bulls I have ever seen. They lived in the side yard of their apartment complex which was between that complex and mine. I lived in a second floor apartment and didn’t dare open windows on that side because ***hole rarely cleaned up his dog’s crap. 
I worked 3rd shift at the time and was awakened often by ***hole and his buddies training those dogs to attack blacks, latinos and Asians by wearing face masks representing those peoples and kicking the dogs. 
I reported them a few times to the police to no avail. 
Anyway, one day just as I was heading to bed I get this frantic knocking at my door and I hear little kids yelling. I opened the door and my neighbor’s 2 little kids came running into the house crying. The ***hole‘s dogs wee out and those kids were terrified. 
I say them down and have them each a cookie then I went back and grabbed my M1 Carbine and 2 loaded 30 round mags. There might be head shots along with numerous other impact points. I wasn’t going to fool around. 
I went out my front door onto the landing and was taking aim on dog 1 at the foot of my stairs when ***hole and a couple of his buddies rounded the corner. Long story short there was a lot of cussing and threats by them and a serious threat of sever bodily injury or death by me upon them and their dogs. 
Huntington Beach’s finest arrived along with animal control. Someone had called the cops. 
The story ends soon after because ***hole and his family moved away. The night they left my storage cubby was broken into snd over $5000 worth of Snap-On tools were stolen. Like I said, scum. 
 

Like I said, I love pit bulls, but I will not hesitate to kill one if threatened and I won’t aim for the head and I will empty the cylinder or mag to be sure. 

 

Have a friend that is a retired SWAT officer. Any time his unit suspected there would be dogs present at a raid or when serving a warrant, a couple officers always carried 12 gauges loaded with 00 Buck. He said one round would instantly neutralize the meanest dog. 

His unit adopted the policy after a few dogs were not neutralized fast enough when hit by multiple rounds fired from sidearms..

[Pat Riot]

3 minutes ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

Have a friend that is a retired SWAT officer. Any time his unit suspected there would be dogs present at a raid or when serving a warrant, a couple officers always carried 12 gauges loaded with 00 Buck. He said one round would instantly neutralize the meanest dog. 

His unit adopted the policy after a few dogs were not neutralized fast enough when hit by multiple rounds fired from sidearms..

Good policy. Good point. 

[Rip Snorter]

I guess, back in the day, we liked dogs better.  A 10# CO2 fire extinguisher worked pretty well.  The only dogs I can recall being shot were members of uncollared wandering feral packs.  They were generally sniped with a small caliber rifle.  Edit: to be fair, I don't recall a lot of Pitbulls back then.  Shepherd mixes, and Junkyard dog types.

[J-BAR #18287]

When dealing with dogs (or any animal for that matter) one should take the same approach as one would take when  planning for a battle:  don’t try to predict what your opponent will do; assess what your opponent is capable of doing.  Pit bulls are capable of inflicting more damage than poodles or cocker spaniels.  Plan accordingly.

 

When I was in private veterinary practice I did not accept pit bulls as patients.  I told the owners that my insurance advised me not to work on them.  It was true…I was self insured, and told myself it wasn’t worth the risk.

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

I’ve known pit bulls that were the nicest dogs I’ve ever met and I know a chihuahua that I wont get anywhere close to.  I don’t judge a dog by breed but by their actions. 

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Neighbors posted a description of the event on "Nextdoor" this morning.

 

Interesting... the bolded part was a surprise.  Evidently the critter was sent home - "first offense."  

 

Had it been my yard and my dog, well... there wouldn't have been an opportunity for a second.  

 

Quote

Hello, just want to give a heads up to neighbors who live near Road 26. A pitbull broke into our backyard and killed one of our dogs while they were out using the restroom. We did everything we could to get the pitbull off our dog but unfortunately the dog never let go until it fully killed my little dog. If you have dogs outside be careful. Also if you have kids who hangout outside. Animal control came but I think they let the dog owner take their dog back since it was the first time their dog has done something or something like that. Just don't want any families to go through what we went through tonight.

 

 

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Why choose a pit bull in the first place? A real question. There are many breeds of all kinds to choose from. Pit pulls can no doubt be wonderfully friendly. But they aren't exactly famous for it. It's not their foremost characteristic vis a vis other breeds.

 

What would be the reason for the choice in the first instance? It has to say something about the outlook of the owner. Or so it seems to me. Maybe not; don't know. But if I were a new dog owner, considering from a great many breeds, why would I choose that one? The known aggressiveness of the type must be part of the decision.

 

 

[J-BAR #18287]

Simply projection in my opinion… the owner wants to be seen as tough and dangerous like the dog.

[J-BAR #18287]

…or they want to appear to be strong enough to control something powerful and dangerous…

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Red and J-Bar's opinions have been my observation in these parts - in spades.  (It would be politically incorrect to mention that although this trait is not exclusive to any demographic group, it seems to be more prevalent in some.)

 

When we moved to this area thirty years ago, I took our young Brittany to the vet for a checkup.  When we met, he was surprised and actually exclaimed "Oh, my!  A Brit!"

 

I asked why he seemed surprised; he said "Well, I am!  I might see maybe one or two Brits a year - but I'll see than many or more pitbulls every day, usually in need of mending."

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Buckshot Bear]

If a dog killed my little dog..... Even if it meant jail, I'd be killing that dog. 

[sassnetguy50]

What fence are y'all using that the dogs are breaking?  How do they attack it to break it?

[Chantry]

10 hours ago, Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 said:

Why choose a pit bull in the first place? A real question. There are many breeds of all kinds to choose from. Pit pulls can no doubt be wonderfully friendly. But they aren't exactly famous for it. It's not their foremost characteristic vis a vis other breeds.

 

What would be the reason for the choice in the first instance? It has to say something about the outlook of the owner. Or so it seems to me. Maybe not; don't know. But if I were a new dog owner, considering from a great many breeds, why would I choose that one? The known aggressiveness of the type must be part of the decision.

 

 

 

I'm a volunteer at a shelter/rescue and I've lost count of how many pit bulls I've seen come through the shelter and that I've have walked and worked with.  A properly socialized pit bull is a sweet, affectionate, loyal, gentle & loving dog and that includes some who have been abused.  So based on first hand experience I know that pit bulls don't deserve the reputation they have based on mostly on what the MSM is "reporting".  I'll note that Rottweilers, another breed I have first hand experience with, are another breed that don't deserve the reputation they have.

[Rip Snorter]

An interesting article https://www.forbes.com/advisor/homeowners-insurance/banned-dog-breed-lists/

[Cypress Sun]

24 minutes ago, Rip Snorter said:

An interesting article https://www.forbes.com/advisor/homeowners-insurance/banned-dog-breed-lists/

 

When I bought my last house, the insurance company was very specific that they would not insure against dog bites from German Shepards, Dobies, Rotties, Pit Bulls, Chows and Great Danes. If I had or got one of those breeds, I would have to sign some sort of waiver absolving them of any claims related to the dog.

[Rip Snorter]

3 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

When I bought my last house, the insurance company was very specific that they would not insure against dog bites from German Shepards, Dobies, Rotties, Pit Bulls, Chows and Great Danes. If I had or got one of those breeds, I would have to sign some sort of waiver absolving them of any claims related to the dog.

Interesting! I have always had dogs, and two most of the time, since I believe it is better for the dog.  I had only Labs until I retired and moved deep into the country.  Apparently they were never a concern, or I'd have been looking at other insurance companies.  The last nine years, I have had one that makes the low end of the risk list and recently added another. An individual other than a guest or deliveryman would have to be trespassing and work at it to get to the dogs.  None have demonstrated aggressive behavior, and they are relatively well controlled.

[Michigan Slim]

4 hours ago, sassnetguy50 said:

What fence are y'all using that the dogs are breaking?  How do they attack it to break it?

The neighbors dog smashed headfirst through a treated board fence. 1x6 lumber.

[J-BAR #18287]

All puppies have inborn personalities, and these traits can be identified by 6-8 weeks of age.  Look at a litter of pups playing with each other.  You can easily identify the bold, dominant individuals, the shy ones, etc.  A pup’s temperament can be tested pretty easily in a few minutes.  You can identify which individuals will be trainable and which ones will resist training.  Saying that any dog can be trained to be a safe loving pet is simply not true.  If that were the case, you would see pit bulls used as guide dogs for the blind, and they aren’t.

[Utah Bob #35998]

14 hours ago, Rip Snorter said:

I guess, back in the day, we liked dogs better.  A 10# CO2 fire extinguisher worked pretty well.  The only dogs I can recall being shot were members of uncollared wandering feral packs.  They were generally sniped with a small caliber rifle.  Edit: to be fair, I don't recall a lot of Pitbulls back then.  Shepherd mixes, and Junkyard dog types.

True. Years ago I wouldn’t have known what a pit bull was. The top of the line tough dawgs were Dobermans and German Shepherds.

[Subdeacon Joe]

13 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

Simply projection in my opinion… the owner wants to be seen as tough and dangerous like the dog.

 

13 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

…or they want to appear to be strong enough to control something powerful and dangerous…

 

In other words, insecure cowards who hide behind their dogs.

 

There was a guy who used to come to the dog park with two dobermans and a rottweiler that he could almost barely control on leash.  A lot of people would leave if he showed up.  

One day one of the dobermans charged 50 yards or so to try to attack our toy poodle.  Fortunately she saw him, managed to avoid him biting her, and scrambled onto the picnic table between my wife and me. The dobbie tried to climb after her.  Funny thing... she started snarling and snapping at it, it backed away.  She jumped onto the bench, still snapping at it and it went back to its owner.  When I told him about it, he just shrugged and said that we shouldn't have a little dog in there.  He took offense when I told him that if it happened again I would have no problem using the wooden cane that I used to hit tennis balls around on his dog's head and neck.   About a month later he was invited to not come back to that dog park.